Survey Data
Reg No
15704246
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Architectural, Artistic, Historical, Social
Original Use
Church/chapel
In Use As
Church/chapel
Date
1825 - 1830
Coordinates
303145, 115971
Date Recorded
13/09/2007
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Detached three-bay double-height single-cell Catholic church, built 1827-9, on a rectangular plan with single-bay full-height buttressed gabled breakfront to entrance (west) front. Renovated, 1897, with interior "improved". Repaired, 1908. Renovated, ----, with sanctuary reordered. Pitched slate roof with clay ridge tiles, cut-granite coping to gables on cut-granite ogee kneelers including lead-covered cut-granite coping to gable to chancel (east) on cut-granite ogee kneelers with Cross finial to apex; and replacement uPVC rainwater goods on rendered cut-granite eaves retaining cast-iron octagonal or ogee hoppers and downpipes. Rendered, ruled and lined battered walls; rendered, ruled and lined surface finish to entrance (west) front with cut-granite quoins to corners (breakfront) supporting granite ashlar buttressed gabled bellcote framing embossed cast-bronze bell ("1855"). Lancet window openings with concrete sills, and "bas-relief" surrounds having chamfered reveals framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on leaded stained glass panels. Lancet window openings to entrance (west) front with concrete sills, and "bas-relief" surrounds having chamfered reveals framing storm glazing over fixed-pane fittings having stained glass margins centred on square glazing bars. Interior including vestibule (north-west) with tessellated encaustic tiled floor, pair of cut-stone wall monuments (ob. 1846; 1849) with group of polished brass wall monuments (ob. 1839; 1890), and diagonal timber boarded ceiling in carved timber frame on carved timber cornice; pointed-arch door opening into nave with cut-granite surround having chamfered reveals framing glazed timber panelled double doors having overlight with interlocking V-tracery glazing bars; full-height interior "improved", 1897, with balustraded choir gallery (west) on timber posts, carpeted central aisle between Maltese Cross-detailed timber pews, timber stations (1907) between stained glass memorial windows (undated), carpeted stepped dais to sanctuary (east) reordered, ----, with Classical-style altar below pedimented reredos, and moulded plasterwork cornice to compartmentalised ceiling. Set in relandscaped grounds on a corner site.
Appraisal
A church erected under the aegis of Reverend Mark O'Keefe PP (d. 1839), Archdeacon of Ferns, representing an important component of the early nineteenth-century ecclesiastical heritage of south County Wexford with the architectural value of the composition, one showing the hallmarks of a period of construction coinciding with the dismantling of the Penal Laws under the Roman Catholic Relief Act, 1829, suggested by such attributes as the compact rectilinear "barn" plan form, aligned along a liturgically-correct axis; the slender profile of the openings underpinning a "medieval" Gothic theme; and the handsome bellcote embellishing the roofline as a picturesque eye-catcher in the landscape: meanwhile, aspects of the composition clearly illustrate the continued development or "improvement" of the church into the early twentieth century. Having been well maintained, the elementary form and massing survive intact together with quantities of the historic or original fabric, both to the exterior and to the interior "improved" (1897) under the aegis of Reverend William Hanton PP (1854-1924) where restrained wall monuments; stained glass supplied by A.W. Lyons and Company of Westland Row, Dublin (cf. 15609006); a Classical reredos demonstrating good quality workmanship; and plasterwork refinements, all highlight the artistic potential of a church making a pleasing visual statement in a rural village street scene.